New planet Tyche four times bigger than Jupiter

Jupiter - in danger of getting knocked off the top spot. Tyche might not happen though, Jupiter has a lot of friends on the IAU. Remember when Pluto asked for more recognition?

The giant gas planet Tyche which is estimated to be four times the mass of Jupiter is set to bring our solar systems planet quota back up to nine.

Tyche is suspected to be located in the outer Oort Cloud, the most remote region of our solar system. The orbit of Tyche, would be 15,000 times farther from the Sun than the Earth’s, and 375 times farther than Pluto’s.

Yes yipee, a stellar discovery!! Well actually there is just one small teensy weensy problem. Tyche hasn’t actually been seen yet.

Tyche is the biggest story to hit the earth part of our solar system since Pluto got demoted five years ago. But it may take another two years to confirm its existence.

The NASA space telescope, Wise, has already gathered the data but it will take up to two years to analyse all the data.

The first wave of data should be ready for release in about April this year. It is a bit like an oil find. If the data looks to be confirming Tyches existence then more telescopes will be trained on its location and the data stream will turn into a torrent.

Astrophysicists John Matese and Daniel Whitmire from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette think there is already a strong case for Tyche’s existence. Professor Dan says if the data comes up trumps “John and I will be doing cartwheels.”

Newswarped wonders if by doing cartwheels these athletic astrophysicists will achieve something else which is truly astounding in the world of astronomy – orbiting ones self.

Hands up everyone who would like to have ‘Astrophysicist’ as their position title on their business card? We might be able to star in our own Big Bang Theory show.

The fate of Tyche (and even if it will end up getting called Tyche) will be decided by the all powerful International Astronomical Union (IAU). They are the dudes who demoted our beloved Pluto.

The IAU will decide ‘officially’ if Tyche exists and what it will be called. There is even some conjecture that they may even make it a whole new classification of planet.

Professor Whitmore says that Tyche will almost certainly be made up mostly of hydrogen and helium and will probably have an atmosphere much like Jupiter’s, with colourful spots and bands and clouds, “You’d also expect it to have moons. All the outer planets have them,” he added. Yes thats right dear. All the planets worthy of the name have moons these days. Ultra trendy, ultra cool.

Even if Tyche does exist the number of planets in the solar system may still remain at 8, the definition of a planet includes that it must have its own orbit around the sun, if it is orbiting in the Oort Cloud then it doesn’t.

You are right on that one Nathan. Thanks you for commenting. Are there Vulcans in your family tree? 🙂 The IAU may have some leeway on the decision because in the absence of overwhelming proof it will come down to the balance of evidence. From what is known so far there is certainly a strong likelihood that Tyche does exist.

The english translation for Polish comment.
Is it possible to exist in the solar system a planet four times larger than Jupiter, about which so far did not know? As it turns out – yes. This sensational news has given us space telescope WISE, and although it is still waiting for official confirmation, it is very likely that the solar system expands to us about these.